Lady Gaga will perform live in front of a crowd of an estimated one million people in Times Square just before the ball drops on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2012," SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31 on the ABC Television Network. To mark the 40th anniversary of the cherished New Year's Eve celebration, the festivities will begin at 8:00 p.m., ET with a new two-hour special entitled "New Year's Rockin' Eve: The 40th Anniversary Party." Lady Gaga is a true phenomenon; her third studio album, "Born This Way," was released on May 23, 2011 and broke the iTunes record for the fastest rise to No. 1 on release day. The album hit No. 1 in 22 of 23 iTunes stores worldwide. The first single from the album, title track "Born This Way," set a music industry record by becoming the fastest single in history to reach sales of 1,000,000 copies (five days after its February 11 release).

"New Year's Rockin' Eve: The 40th Anniversary Party" will be hosted from Times Square and Los Angeles with exciting live performances by some of this year's biggest hit makers. The celebration will also look back at the amazing moments from four decades of ringing in the New Year with the biggest names in the world of music and entertainment. Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest will host "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2012" beginning at 10:00 p.m., ET from New York on Saturday, December 31 on the ABC Television Network. Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas will return to host the Los Angeles-based portions of the specials.

Dick Clark said: "It hardly seems possible that we began telecasting 'New Year's Rockin' Eve' 40 years ago. Armed with just a couple of cameras and a skeleton crew, my wife and I stood atop a Times Square building and watched the thousands of happy celebrants in Times Square. The army of talent we had join us over the years has truly been outstanding, and this year we top it off with an appearance by Lady Gaga. 'New Year's Rockin' Eve 2012' promises to be one of the most exciting ever, and I'm proud to be part of the team."

Ryan Seacrest said: "Lady Gaga is one of the most exciting and relevant artists of our time, and we're thrilled to have her join 'New Year's Rockin' Eve' this year in Times Square. I'm especially honored to share the stage with the legendary Dick Clark, who is celebrating his 40th year hosting the show, which he created and transformed into one of the most iconic American television programs. We're really thrilled to see how this year's lineup lights up the stage to make it the most memorable show yet."